GM McKenzie expects to trade or release QB soon so he can pursue starting job elsewhere

Updated 11:38 pm, Monday, March 24, 2014

Terrelle Pryor, who fell on a fumble against the Eagles in November, hopes to land a starting job with another NFL team after three seasons in Oakland.

Terrelle Pryor, who fell on a fumble against the Eagles in November, hopes to land a starting job with another NFL team after three seasons in Oakland.

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

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Pryor, who spent most of his three seasons with the Raiders on the sideline, below, hopes to land a starting job with another NFL team.

Pryor, who spent most of his three seasons with the Raiders on the sideline, below, hopes to land a starting job with another NFL team.

Photo: Tim Sharp, Associated Press

Image 3 of 3

Pryor, who spent most of his three seasons with the Raiders on the sideline, below, hopes to land a starting job with another NFL team.

Pryor, who spent most of his three seasons with the Raiders on the sideline, below, hopes to land a starting job with another NFL team.

Photo: Elaine Thompson, AP

Raiders looking to trade or release Terrelle Pryor

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The Raiders have been quietly shopping quarterback Terrelle Pryor for a month or two, and on Monday at the NFL owners' meetings in Orlando, general manager Reggie McKenzie said that both sides are looking at getting Pryor a fresh start.

Pryor probably will be traded or released soon, McKenzie said.

McKenzie told reporters that Pryor's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has "mentioned it to me" that Pryor would like to be traded or released. Oakland traded a sixth-round pick to Houston on Friday for starting quarterback Matt Schaub.

Pryor started nine games last season, beating out Matt Flynn and then losing his job to rookie Matt McGloin. Pryor had mixed results. Pryor, who missed three weeks in the middle of the season with a knee injury, ran for 576 yards but threw 11 interceptions and only seven touchdowns. He completed 47 percent of his passes in his last four appearances.

The Raiders' coaching staff grew frustrated with Pryor's head being on a swivel in the pocket and with him not going through his progression of receivers coming open downfield.

Oakland probably will draft a quarterback - not in the first round - in May to groom behind Schaub and No. 2 quarterback Matt McGloin. Stanford alum Trent Edwards also is on the roster.

"Terrelle wants to start so bad," McKenzie told reporters Monday. "... I'll visit with him and we'll talk to him and we'll move on from there."

Pryor, 24, recently rehired Rosenhaus after firing agent Jerome Stanley. It was Stanley who said Pryor was given the start in Week 17 last season because head coach Dennis Allen wanted Pryor to fail, thereby making the decision to go with McGloin earlier look good.

Allen said that was "the stupidest thing I've ever friggin' heard" and maintained that his assessment of McGloin was done and that starting Pryor gave the Raiders the best chance to win that week.

The decision to start Pryor might have been an owner-suggested last-ditch effort for the young quarterback to prove himself.

Surprise move: Two of the bigger questions in free agency are: Did the Raiders almost sign guard Rodger Saffold to play left tackle, and what are their plans with Menelik Watson? It looked as if the second-year player wasn't going to be in the starting lineup, even after the Saffold signing fell through and Donald Penn was inked to play left tackle.

Turns out there was a twist. Oakland signed Austin Howard from the Jets to play guard and not right tackle, and McKenzie and Allen want Watson to start at right tackle.

That could all change at training camp, according to team sources, but that's the plan right now. McKenzie has added a lot of versatile offensive linemen and wants tough competition with the ability to move around parts.

Howard, known as a powerful run blocker, has played right tackle in his four years in the NFL but did work at guard in his early days with Philadelphia and Baltimore.

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